Where the wild roses grow
by AnimeAddict93
Summary: One prince, exiled far away from his world gets to know love, happiness and pain. I suck at summaries- -'


**OK so this is what happens when I get too melancholic and write instead of draw. Just one shot.**

**Disclaimer:I don't own oban star racers, though the money would come in handy  
**

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"Is something wrong my son?"

The queen stood in the doorway with a concern look. But he did not see her face. He saw the whiteness of her dress, the redness of her belt and the black of the ebony door. White, red and black…The natives of this planet consider it a combination that resembles innocence and great beauty. But their fairy tales had never been so far from his heart. White, red and black were the colors of his tragedy.

Below him, in the garden, there was another red thing: a beautiful flower in full bloom. But its crimson petals, which looked like velvet, could never mach the ones of their cousins who grew by a river outside the city. Perhaps the wildness of that place, perhaps the resemblance with his planet, perhaps the bittersweet memories linked to them made those roses more beautiful than any other flower.

Outside the concrete forest there was a real one. One for which the humans fought with the crog authorities. He wanted to help them but he had no authority, as all "allies" of the crogs. He was there in exile, though that wasn't the official reason for him and his family being away from their planet. So far away from home that forest was like an oasis in a land that had nothing in common with Nourasia. He went there even several times a day to meditate, to admire the roses and to breathe clean air.

But besides visiting that place and his daily training he had some other hobbies. One of his favorite activities was to watch the weekly races. It was amazing how the humans still held that kind of expansive competition considering their lack of funds. Maybe the crogs gave them some patronage as they were sometimes competing to humiliate the human pilots.

He remembered so well the day when they were the ones humiliated. Two star racers increasing their speed as they were getting closer to the finish line. The crog wanted to finish quicker with his opponent and activated his energy blade getting closer to the other star racers. But the human pilot was ready for his scheme. The star racer made a somersault in the air and increased its speed crossing the finish line. What a pleasant feeling was to see his enemies defeated even in such an unimportant matter.

But of course they didn't want to accept defeat. They immediately claimed the Earth team cheated and of course the judges played as they sang.

He left the arena indignant with the crogs behavior. The human pilot was good, he won fairly. It was their victory. But what could be expected from a race so vain.

"They don't know how to lose!"  
He heard his own thought mutter by someone else who passed by in a hurry. He saw the figure of a young girl. Looking at her again he noticed the inscription on her back: Wei Race Team. She was the pilot! Looking ahead in her direction he saw two massive figures. And then he realized the girl wasn't paying attention where she was going. That wasn't going to end pretty. He rushed after the pilot but it was too late to stop her.

"Just look, if it isn't the cheating pilot."

"I'm sure you want to show us how sorry you are pussy" Both of them grinned while one of them grabbed her hand.

"In your dreams maybe moron" The Earth girl answered treading on the crog's foot trying to break free. But she only managed to get him angry and he threw her against a wall. They were preparing to tread on her entire body when he stepped between her and them caching one of their fists.

"I believe this kind of treatment isn't appropriate for a young lady."

He could feel their hatred but he also knew they couldn't hurt him and they had to stop hitting her unless they wanted trouble. They muttered something between an apology and a curse and walked away.

He turned his eyes to the girl who was lying on the concrete. She defiantly felt pain but didn't show too much of it.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah…Thank you" She gave him a pretty smile and her eyes were light by the most sincere gratitude.

"You shouldn't have confronted them." He said offering his hand to help her up. But she lost her smile and the light in her eyes was replaced by a flame. She stood up without his help ignoring the pain.

"And give up my dignity, give them satisfaction, let them step on me? I don't care what you thought about us until now but you should know that although we lost the war we haven't lost our pride."

He was speechless. This girl was special, he could feel it. Her every word was so true and they were actually giving him the desire of fighting back. The crogs lost a race; they could lose a battle. Dignity…what can be more precious for a people than this feeling to help them survive in any situation, to unite them and keep them strong. He looked in the girl's eyes, amber eyes. The flames in them caught his proud soul, but at the same time some other kind of flame caught his heart. He was preparing to give her an answer, something to show her he didn't believe her people had no dignity and that he knows its value but faith had other plans.

"Prince Aikka! Come!"

His fencing master was standing by G'dar a few meters away.

"Prince…?!"

He turned to find her speechless, with her mouth half opened and pinky cheeks. He gave her a little smile and bowed.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Miss..?"

"Eva" She barely articulated.

"Good bye for now Miss Eva."

"Yeah…see you later."

Trainings were always long and were getting harder. But he had never complaint. After finishing the exercises he escaped for his special place. The last rays of sun were playing in the river's water. Twilight set everything on fire. Even the roses seemed caught by the flame. But it didn't catch him. Another fire was consuming him. An early nightingale started its concert. The divine melody caught his heart. He unconsciously played with a rose watching the water flow.

In the water the sun rays were starting to draw or maybe he was too tiered and started seeing things. He could swear that in the water he saw a perfect porcelain doll. Soft features framed by black hair. There were flames in her eyes and blood in her hair; a blood trace in the perfect night. On her white, round cheeks there were some strange sighs; birth signs or tattoos. But they only made her look more beautiful. Her small lips reminded him of the curves of his bow. He raised his hand with the rose, as he was offering her the flower and the image vanished. The nightingale continued her song, but the prince didn't hear simple sounds. He was hearing words: _She is the one_.

There was still some light when he arrived at the racing arena still holding the red rose. Something was telling him that it won't be in his hands for long. And there she was, a teenager wearing a black shirt and some old jeans, with a bag on her back heading to the bus stop. Their eyes meet and she stopped. Aikka got closer to her thinking what to say but nothing fancy came to his mind.

"Good evening Miss Eva."

"Hi… What are you doing here?" She asked although she didn't seem surprised to see him.

"You said you'd see me later"

"Oh…"

He gave her the rose whispering "for you".

"Thanks, it's very nice of you." She looked at him, but not in the eyes; a bit lower-at his lips. He got the message but he didn't find the strength to do anything. It was strange. He felt some sort of magic around them but it didn't gave him the push he needed to do what he dreamed by the river when the nightingale sang.

He walked her home. So he did the next day without saying more than "Hello" and "Goodbye". The third day they started to talk about little things the saw on their way. The forth he whispered "you're beautiful" and silence fell again. But although there were no words, a lot of feelings between them were growing; they were getting closer to each other. By the end of the week they were walking hand in hand.

The crogs asked for their rematch, no cheating this time. That would mean the humans weren't allowed to win. But Eva didn't care. She still did her best and won. Her teammates started to worry about the consequences. But Eva held her head up and refused to abandon her principles. Aikka was proud of her but didn't tell her, she already knew it from his eyes.

The prince had never been happier. He was training harder than ever and spent more time minding his studies. Some even worried he would fall from exhaustion. But he had a lot of energy and he didn't mind staying up late to complete his homework. One night when he looked out the window by chance he noticed they had roses in their garden and thought he didn't give Eva one since the day they met. Next day by dusk he went to the river and picked one beautiful bud. He then headed to the city. Eva was waiting him on a bench. Was he late?

He sat next to her, putting the rose in her hands.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For making you wait."

"Weren't you waiting for me everyday?" She gave him a smile. It was so candid and made her look even more beautiful. Aikka felt his heart ready to explode as he caressed the star in her cheek.

"I…"

Eva covered his moth with the red flower.

"I know."

She gently pulled him towards him and pressed her lips against his. Not even the hardest exercises of Canaan could make his heart beat so fast. She knew, he knew she knew and that was mutual. What more perfect way to express the most beautiful feeling than silence. The sweetest moments between lovers are made of silence. Words are to less to express something that only the heart understands.

The prince figured that there was no magic surrounding them. He only felt her all the time; he felt her breath, her heart beat and the warm feeling inside him. She gave him the push and started kissing back with more passion than he ever thought of being capable.

They eventually broke the kiss and walked to Eva's house holding each other. When they arrived Aikka kissed the star in her cheek but was incapable to say goodbye.

"You can come to visit me from time to time." She said giving him a goodbye kiss on his cheek. The prince nodded as she entered the building.

He didn't visit her right away. He wanted to but still wondered if it would be appropriate. So their late dates didn't change very much for a week. Then the nature probably wanted to give them a push. It was raining heavily. They took the bus for the first time. But the station was pretty far from Eva's house and they took a good shower until they reached the front door. The price wanted to give her the goodbye kiss and leave as usual but she had other plans.

"Why don't you come in? Summer showers don't last very much." It was obvious the rain wasn't going to stop soon but he couldn't say no.

Eva was living at the third floor in what the humans called a flat. It wasn't a big one but he assumed it was normal for a family with only one child.

She led him to the bathroom and gave him a blow drier and some kind of dressing gown which's name he couldn't remember. It was light brown and had some black geometric pattern. He guessed it belonged to her father.

"You'd better want tea 'cause I've already made it." She said when he came out of the bathroom.

"Can't wait to taste it."

He sat on the couch looking around the room, which probably served as living room, dining room and study at the same time. The furniture was quite simple but just the presence of wood made the room very welcoming. He hated all that plastic and metal objects, which were used more and more as they were less expensive. On a desk next to the window there was a huge pile of books. They all looked like school books apart from the on at the top. It particularly caught his eye because of the bookmark: one of his roses.

Eva walked in with two cups of hot tea. She was wearing the same kind of gown, just a little more feminine and it had a pattern of rosettes. For the first time he saw her with her hair off her face, pulled back in a small loop.

He took the tea cup from her hands and inhaled the sweet smell of the tea clearing his mind. He continued to stare at the book without even realizing it.

"What are you thinking?"

Her voice awoke him from his daydreaming. But he realized he wasn't dreaming something. He only felt the warmth of the tea and of the feelings inside his heart.

"Nothing…Really…I'm…I don't how to explain it." He turned to her. The way she had her hair made her face look less round and gave her some sort of elegancy. He smiled without knowing why. She raised her eyebrows waiting for him to complete his answer.

"There are moments of happiness when you don't really think of something." He said simply widening his smile. He then he took sip of tea turning again to the books.

"The dream" he whispered the book's title he managed to read.

"I've finished it yesterday." Aikka was surprised that she heard him but thinking again she have always heard him.

"How was it?"

"Kind of bittersweet, especially in the end."

"How's that?"

"Well, it's about a young couple in the 19th century. They fall in love but had different social status and his father was against their relation."

"I didn't know humans cared for social ranks."

"We did and some still do. But most of us try to ignore them. They only bring pain; the character's drama in this book is because of that. At a point they wanted to run but couldn't. Not because they were caught but because of their sense of duty to their parents…Then Angelique, the girl, got sick and was close to dieing. The boy's father was the bishop of the region. He had to come and do some kind of ritual to try and convince God to cure the girl. In those times religion was still very important."

"He saved her?"  
"Yes…or I'm not sure…She got better for a while. And perhaps seeing her suffering and close to death melt the priest's heart and he let them marry….She lived to go through the ceremony that should "unite two souls", but she died at the end of it; when they kissed at the end. She gave her last breath in that kiss."

The prince drank the rest of his tea meditating at what she said.

"Where should be the sweet part in this?"

"Angelique died happy." She said simply putting her empty cup on the coffee table. Aikka didn't know what to say. What could he said?

"Lucky her." He said without really believing it. He put his cup down and she stretched her arm to tidy the table. He caught her wrist and pulled her against him. She fell in his lap.

"But I still think living happy is more interesting." He took her face in his hands and whispered: "Promise me that if I kiss you now you won't die."

"I promise" She said smiling.

And he kissed her gently, caressing her cheeks. She locked her arms around his neck and kissed back. Although they put so much passion it was still an innocent kiss; as simple and innocent as the nightingale's song.

The divine melody filled the glade where the roses grew when he led her there the next day. It was his special place and he wanted to share it with her. He thanked God the roses were still in full bloom for her, and in the flames of the twilight they looked more beautiful.

"I find these flowers a living contradiction. They are the most beautiful I saw so far, but still have sharp thorns. And all the other flowers from this and my planet have either something feminine or something masculine in their look. These are different. They seem to have both elements."

"They are thought to be the flowers of love, and as love is perfect union they have to have both elements. As for the thorns…" A shadow of sadness passed over her amber eyes. "Nobody felt love without feeling pain."

"Your kind has the most pessimistic concepts…no offense"

"They are not pessimistic, they are just realistic."

They sat there in silence just listening to the nightingale. At that moment he didn't think at her words. He was too happy to even imagine sadness.

"You come here often?"

"Yes…this place has something that reminds me of my planet, of Nourasia. I'm not sure what. The plants are different of the ones back home and we certainly don't have roses. I think they are unique in the universe; but of course I can't be sure. The animals too; they aren't so shy on Nourasia… Perhaps the atmosphere is the same…but whatever is it sure helps me handle the distance." He made a pause looking at the gently waves. "Whenever you need me it's more likely to find me here."

"I'll keep that in mind."

When darkness fell he noticed she was asleep. The moon provided him enough light to see her baby-face. He remembered her face created by the golden rays of the sun. Now silver ones were caressing the creation of the sun, of the fire. But her skin seemed to be related some how to the icy moon. He took off his crown and fixed it on her head.

"My princess" he whispered smiling.

He carried her to her building. She woke up in front of her door and looked confused at the prince.

"What happened?"

"You fell asleep."

"Ohh…you could have wake me, you know. I'm pretty heavy and it's a long way from the forest."

"No you're not." He said and kissed her cheeks which were as red as the top portion of her hair. "It was all my pleasure."

"That is hard to believe"

"You'd better believe it" He leaned in and kissed her lightly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure"

The moon sent her cold rays to the Earth. But the coldness couldn't affect him. He was too happy; he had a fire that burned continuously inside him. It kept him warm in front of the ice queen of the night. The thought of a change of situation was far from his mind but hit him like a thunder when he saw his princess lying on a carpet of red petals in pain and with glassy tears on her cheeks. Horror, despair, infinite pain…all the feelings he so wanted to never experience crushed his heart at once. He let out a terrible scream but the pain just increased with it. His heart was aching and felt like it's going to stop in any moment. He fell down next to his princess.

"W…Wha…." He couldn't articulate anything. Tears were running down his face, falling on her cheeks and united with hers.

"The crogs" she let out a weak muttered "I've gone too far"

He saw an inflamed portion of skin on the back of her knee and he understood everything. She kept on doing her best at the race team and the crogs decided she had to disappear. The way they made someone disappear wasn't a secret for nobody. Before they'd killed her she had to go through a lot of savage treatments, through pain and humiliation. She managed to run and came there to find him. But one small creature did what the crogs wanted to do. A snake bit her leg in a place she couldn't reach to suck the poison out. But she was too scared of the crogs to go back to the city. He tried to suck it out although from the first moment he knew he lost her.

He held her tightly as he wanted to hold her soul, to prevent him from leaving. She tried to hug him but was too weak. He could see how she wanted to hide the pain but it was too strong. She was dyeing there in his arms and in terrible torments. And they were getting worse.

"Please tell Don Wei….at the race arena…..please tell him my name was Eva."

Aikka nodded and kissed her cheek. He didn't care how illogical her words sound. He just saw his princess dyeing and he couldn't help her as he always dreamed. He always wished he would be the night in shining armor from their fairy tales. But now there was no way to save her. There was only one thing to do.

He pulled his dagger as gently as he could so she wouldn't feel it. He raised her a bit and pressed his lips against hers. The warmth of his lips, of his love, touched her at the same time with the coldness of the blade. But there was no moan of pain; she didn't try to break free or to break the kiss. What she had felt? It was the only thing he couldn't figure from her touch. He hoped he felt at least a bit of happiness as Angelique. The life sparkle in her went out in that kiss.

He let the dragger fall. A scream climbed up his throat but didn't leave his moth. He was still holding her body; tears continued to roll down his face. The flames of the twilight caught everything surrounding him except for his soul. It was freezing. The moon's touch finally reached him. The blood filled his hands and went down to the fallen petals and to the soil. Her clothes were little by little turning red.; oh why did they have to be white?!

Tears dry eventually. They were so stupid. They made him feel weak, miserable and each one fell in vain. They couldn't even express the pain she felt. They weren't enough to mourn his princess. He stood as a rock looking at the dead angel. Then he heard the nightingale and hatred filled his heart. How could she keep singing?! The same melody as in their happy moments?! How could the world go by when an angel passed away?

He lay her down on the soft petals. Her eyes were already closed. He kissed her lips for the last time saying "goodbye".

Red, black and white…The redness of the roses and of her precious blood…the black of her hair and of the soil….and the icy whiteness of her skin and of his mother's dress.

Nori gently put her hand on his shoulder. The prince finally managed to see her face. He gave her a sad little smile.

"Nothing's wrong."

A porcelain doll broke in his arms. Another pure soul rose to a land nobody could imagine. But time doesn't stop to mourn. It flows with cruelty dragging the world after him, not caring for the broken hearts, for the lost ones. Everyone lives on their routine as a nightingale that sings every evening its song no matter if the world is dressed in glowing white or black. There was nothing wrong. It has always been like that: an endless fight where the pure hearts fall…the angels fall first. A rose grows, blooms feeding the butterflies and the young hearts and then fades away. Nothing is for ever; all beauty must die. This is the way things have always been. There was nothing wrong about what happened.

It just wasn't fair.

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**I killed Eva! God! It's not the first time but still...I don't really enjoy killing her, but it's better than killing Aikka. And no, I don't think you can have a relation without talking, but silence is also important because a relation is not a TV show where you get fired if you have dead times. And the relationship between Eva and Aikka is one with few words. If you remember that scene in the rain? That is really a perfect one. **

**And I don't believe in love at first sight, I was just melancholic an I listen obsessively to the song "Where the wild roses grow" by Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave. **

**Anyway I hope you liked it and didn't get bored through the half of it.  
**


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